Crowded Places
by redshipper
Summary: for a moment she felt the crowded places in her mind had become empty and they were the only ones there. spoilers for Stowaway & LSD


A/N: Missing scene from LSD, taken place between the moment where Olivia wakes up and when Peter meets her again, at the end of the episode.

Crowded Places

She waited for him in the car, while he went to the ice cream parlor. Peter insisted on getting her some chocolate chip ice cream she enjoyed so much but rarely had the chance to have and, she had to agree with him, if there was a moment for her to indulge into such little pleasures, it was now.

Olivia felt foggy, like she had just woken up from a long sleep full of weird dreams she could only vaguely recall. Her head hurt too, it hurt so much she couldn't even hold her hair in a ponytail or bear to stay outdoors without her sunglasses - even though the cloudy Boston weather made everything around her seem gray and lacking color. In some way that's how she felt: gray, lacking color and energy, unanimated. She let her head fall back against the car seat and closed her eyes, waiting for Peter to return.

She ached to be back home. She couldn't recall much from what happened, only waking up on a chair at the lab, feeling confused, a very worried Peter looking at her in a mix of shock and relief. To say she was tired wouldn't even begin describing how she felt, it seemed that her life force had been drained from her body as she tried to speak to him.

"Hi…" a whisper came out, at the sight of their anxious faces.

The sigh of relief that left Peter made her even more confused.

She furrowed her brows, trying to remember. Olivia blinked slowly, flashes appeared in her mind as if she was fighting to wake up from a dream where she was someone else, but it still was a huge blur for her to make sense of.

Olivia watched them walking around as if they were in slow motion, the feeling twice more intense as the first time she went to the water tank, three years ago.

"Can you help me up, Peter?" Olivia asked, when Astrid disappeared into the office, taking a tray of food to Walter. She still felt terribly drowsy and what started as a small discomfort in her forehead was starting to turn into a massive headache. Peter helped her out of the chair and held her by her waist as she seemed to find her balance in his arms. Olivia smiled at him.

"You look exhausted," she heard him whisper, leaning against him. For a moment she closed her eyes and just enjoyed his embrace and the warmth of his chest.

"Like you look much better than I do," she said, her voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt. Olivia felt herself shaking with his laughter and that felt wonderful, such a wonderful sound and place to be.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" he asked, his fingers softly scratching the top of her head in the familiar caress that soothed her to sleep so many times before.

She could remember flashes of her – or, actually, him - working at the lab with Walter and thinking, too much thinking. She could recall, faintly, Bell chatting to Walter about their friendship and even them smoking marijuana at some point. She could remember how frustrated he felt because Olivia's body responded to marijuana by getting a headache instead of getting high and relaxed.

"Erm… bits and flashes. It's confusing right now."

"I'm glad you are back, Olivia. Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just… my head hurts. Can you take me home before it gets worse?"

"Yeah, sure. Let me just tell Astrid we're off."

Peter held her face in his palm and couldn't hold back a smile as he looked into her eyes, really seeing Olivia there. He pulled her for a soft kiss, feeling her lips warm and plump under his and his smile got broader at such feeling.

The sound of Peter opening and closing the car door made her head throb deeper in pain and she flinched slightly. She looked at him, his smiling face saying something she couldn't even register and she smiled back at him, accepting the soft kiss he planted on her lips. She couldn't wait to lie down and close her eyes, find herself immersed in the darkness and silence and him, all around her.

"Your place or mine?" he asked and she couldn't remember the answer. Ten minutes later she found herself inside her own bedroom.

She could remember fighting to wake up, fighting hard, to the point she felt too exhausted. She would feel angry if she weren't so weary right now. Maybe tomorrow, if she could gather the energy, she would yell at Walter for what they, once again, did to her without her permission. She was tired of being invaded, of having her own life taken so abruptly from her and feeling powerless every time it happened. She was angry for having to live on borrowed happiness and having to endure it being taken from her every time. She didn't want to be away from Peter again, from the happiness she found in being next to him.

Then she felt Peter's arm around her, his warmth and soft lips finding her cheeks in a soft and tender kiss. Olivia looked at him and then realized she was sitting down on the bed and he was kneeling in front of her, holding out his hand. He had a pill and a glass of water in his hands. She took it and drank the water, not even bothering to ask what was, hoping it would just make her sleep off her pain and discomfort.

"Are you sure you're all right, Olivia? Maybe you should've gone to the hospital."

"I'm okay, Peter. I'm just… I'm so tired. I need to lie down and rest a bit, that's all," she said, lying down, shifting slightly until she was comfortable enough. Peter stood, looking serious at her and she felt his blue eyes staring at her intently, blazing at her. Olivia blinked slowly, still feeling sore.

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, just stay with me for a while," she said, stretching out her arms for him. Peter repeated her movement as he laid next to her and pulled Olivia into his arms.

It was the first time since it all happened that Olivia could remember feeling comfortable and safe, there, in his arms. She breathed in his warmth and his scent, faint cologne and all him, as she nuzzled his neck softly, getting reacquainted once again with her favorite spot in the world, the soft scratch of his stubble against her lips. She didn't even realize she let out a loud and sad sigh against his skin, as she came to notice he was more than a lover and a friend, he was also her touchstone and her rock and that she felt safe to trust him unconditionally.

Olivia snuggled closer to him, letting her head rest against his shoulder.

She barely noticed the tears running down her face. Olivia couldn't remember the last time she cried in front of someone but she realized she didn't care because it was Peter holding her. She let the tears stream down her face quietly, letting the knot in her throat be undone and the weight in her head unload, feeling the soft caress of Peter's fingers against her hair and scalp.

And for a moment she felt the crowded places in her mind had become empty and they were the only ones there, as Olivia slowly drifted to a dreamless sleep.

THE END


End file.
